Mundo's Marathon - in his own words

Thanks to Edmund Northcott not only for raising £500 for Casa Lar de Mangueira, but also for sending us this account of his London Marathon day - with all that ensued....

07:27 - Train from Tufnell Park
09:45 - Start gun
09:49 - Crossed the start line
13:45 - Passed Out!

Firstly I would like to say a gargantuan THANK YOU to all those that sponsored me and I can assure you that the money has gone to the most tremendous and well deserved causes that I can think of, Macmillan and Quest.

The big day was certainly memorable in many different ways. I made my way to Blackheath early on Sunday morning to mingle with the swelling crowd at the ‘Blue Start.’ This was an experience in itself listening to everyone exchanging stories of their latest marathons while I anticipated the titanic task I was about to take on for the first time. With my bag stowed, and all the necessary (but albeit rather provocative) stretches out of the way I headed to my starting pen. The crowd was gradually ushered forward to the start line and the race officially began. There was alot of jostling at the start and dodging the running beer bottles and bananas proved rather tricky, but I eventually managed to find a steady pace.

The crowds that lined the sun soaked streets of London were tremendous in offering support, often in the form of hysterical screaming but occasionally offering sweets, orange slices and beer...I mean water! The first half passed surprisingly swiftly and by mile 15 I was feeling rather good. Needless to say this was a short lived experience and by mile 20 the heat and sheer distance took its toll and each mile felt like a marathon in itself!

The final stretch proved to be extremely difficult (as if I wasn’t expecting that!) and although I kept running, the photo you see above is at 25 Miles by my Mum. At 26.15 miles I suffered something extraordinary and woke up in a wheelchair hysterical and delirious jabbering away to the paramedics. Apparently I was quizzical as to why my legs hurt so much and why I was dressed in such skimpy attire, and to my horror they replied I had just run the London Marathon. My immediate reply was, “what on earth did I do that for?” I then lay in agony with cramping legs and dizziness for 2-3 hours, but got a much needed massage from the wonderful people at Macmillan.

So despite not getting a medal my body obviously thought it would be far more dramatic to make a hell of a scene just before the finish line to make it a truly memorable day, just not for all the right reasons. My Mum had a wonderful day rubbing shoulders with Colin Jackson and Jonathan Edwards, until she got the fateful text from St John’s ambulance saying her son was receiving medical attention, much to her inconvenience!

I think it’ll be a while until I venture onto the marathon scene again, but thank you once again for the devotion you have shown to my charities, and I hope you won’t hold the last 500 yards against me.

Yours so very gratefully,
Mundo.
What an effort and a great blog, thanks Ed!

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